*[Enwl-eng] Future of food

[ENWL]

Save the future of our food. Stop patents on fruits, vegetables and seeds!
      We fought for years to save our food and stop patents on seeds, and we 
won. But companies like Bayer-Monsanto and Carlsberg are manipulating the 
rules and cancelling our win. Let’s defend what we won! Tell our ministers 
to clarify the rules once and for all.

      SIGN NOW
Hi,

A handful of corporations own our food. [1] They decide what farmers can 
grow and how much we have to pay for it.

Giant companies like Bayer-Monsanto and Carlsberg can do this because they 
patent our seeds: from melons and tomatoes to barley used to make beer. [2]

We campaigned for five years to get the office which decides on patents (the 
European Patent Office – EPO), to ban patents on plants and animals. And we 
won! [3] But companies are cancelling our win by taking advantage of where 
the rules are not 100% clear. [4]

All it would take to block these companies is for ministers to make patent 
rules watertight. The very rules they put in place thanks to public pressure 
from people like us.

And we know we can do this because this time around, our community is even 
stronger. We also have 50 organisations joining the fight, including local 
breweries from across Europe.

Together let’s call our ministers to schedule an official conference and 
take bold decisions that will stop companies from manipulating the rules. 
Add your name now!

            Stop Patents on Seeds


The greed of the likes of Bayer-Monsanto and Carlsberg is threatening the 
future of thousands of farms. They’re fighting tooth and nail to claim 
ownership of dozens of crops - like the barley used to make beer and feed 
animals.

Last year, 55 million tonnes of barley were grown in Europe. [5] Because 
anyone was free to grow seeds like these, local farmers could support their 
families and keep our shelves stocked with fresh products at fair prices.

And this is why we need to keep going to make sure the rules are watertight 
and stop patents on seeds once and for all.

            Stop companies from controlling our food


We got the EPO to listen to us through a huge petition, various protests 
including in Munich at the Oktoberfest beer festival, and by dressing as 
screaming vegetables or delivering empty beer bottles outside the patent 
office. [6]

Now we are even stronger than before with more than 50 organisations 
(including local breweries!) on our side. This time, we need our ministers 
who work on patents to listen. They have the power to block companies that 
are trying to manipulate the rules. To do so, they need to decide in an 
official conference.

But they won’t do anything unless they feel the pressure. Call on our 
ministers to schedule the conference and stop patents on seeds! Sign now.

Thank you for being part of this,
David (London), Giulio (Rome), Olga (Bologna) and the entire WeMove Europe 
team



References:
[1] Today, only 10 corporations own about 75 % of the international seed 
market. The three largest, Bayer-Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta, control over 
50 % of the market. See, 
http://www.no-patents-on-beer.org/en/background/negative-effects
[2] https://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/publications/report2021, 
https://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/news/carlsberg2020
[3] 
https://www.wemove.eu/big-win-patents?utm_source=civimail-43692&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20220222_EN 
https://www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/communications/2020/20200514.html
[4] While patents on conventionally bred plants are prohibited, patents on 
breeding by means of genetic engineering, including new methods such as 
genome editing can be patented. Companies deliberately blur the lines 
between genetic engineering and conventional breeding in their patent 
applications. In these cases, all plants (or animals) with the 
characteristics described in the patent, are claimed as an invention. In 
most cases, additional elements are introduced as ‘technical toppings’ to 
simulate real inventions. 
https://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/publications/report2021
[5] 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Agricultural_production_-_crops
[6] 
https://www.wemove.eu/big-win-patents?utm_source=civimail-43692&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20220222_EN 
https://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/activities/38-bottles
https://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/activities/180.000signatures



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build people power to transform Europe in the name of our community, future 
generations and the planet.

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From: David - WeMove Europe
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 9:12 PM
Subject: Future of food

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